Expo 2020 is a sea of yellow, green and red on Lithuania's national day

There was a Lithuanian flavour to Expo 2020 Dubai on Friday as the country celebrated its national day.

Visitors to the world fair on Friday were handed the northern European country's yellow, green and red flags, while Lithuanian musicians performed at the Al Wasl stage.

To provide a home-from-home atmosphere for the estimated 1,000-strong Lithuanian community in the UAE, the country’s pavilion was in party mode.

The evening was scheduled to be wrapped up with the acclaimed Vilnius City Opera band playing on the Jubilee Stage.

It’s designed to show how Lithuania merges traditions with modern values

Austeja Brasiunaite,
Lithuania pavilion

“We wanted everybody to feel the vibe of Lithuania today,” said Austeja Brasiunaite, head of events and communication at the Baltic country’s pavilion.

“That’s why we were giving out flags to everyone around the Expo site.

“We’re celebrating and we want everyone to celebrate with us.”

She said the performances and flags also served an important role in making visitors to the world’s fair interested in her country.

“We want people to have a good time and come away wanting to know a little bit more about Lithuania,” she said.

“The hope is that by the end of Expo more people will be aware of what we have to offer and come to visit our country or invest.”

The country’s pavilion – which has been nicknamed an “openairium” due to its greenery – is designed to allow visitors to discover “unseen Lithuania”, with an emphasis on the country's natural landscapes and rivers.

“It’s designed to show how Lithuania merges traditions with modern values,” Ms Brasiunaite said.

“It also symbolises how our country has a huge commitment to sustainability – when you come inside the pavilion you will be greeted by images of the greenery.

“The pavilion is built with completely sustainable materials and the displays show how we blend modern technologies with our natural resources.”

She said this dichotomy in the pavilion showed that while it was important to be at the forefront of technological advances, it was equally crucial to have a work-life balance.

“We are a really creative country that has a lot to offer but it’s also vital to have that greenery on show as there’s a need for us all to get away from the big cities and spend time in the natural world,” Ms Brasiunaite said.

“We hope that more and more companies will come to invest in Lithuania and that our companies find more connections here.”

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The smuggler

Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.

Khouli conviction

Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.

For sale

A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.

- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico

- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000

- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950

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What is an FTO Designation?

FTO designations impose immigration restrictions on members of the organisation simply by virtue of their membership and triggers a criminal prohibition on knowingly providing material support or resources to the designated organisation as well as asset freezes.

It is a crime for a person in the United States or subject to the jurisdiction of the United States to knowingly provide “material support or resources” to or receive military-type training from or on behalf of a designated FTO.

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Source: US Department of State